While at the end of his strict, academic training at the Royal Academy, Anthony Caro worked as an assistant to Henry Moore and Caro's figural works of the 1950s are clearly influenced by this experience. He was better known however, for his radical and brightly coloured steel sculptures of the following decade, which were inspired by the writings of the formalist critics such as Clement Greenberg and the Abstract Expressionists. Caro's one-man exhibition at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in 1963 brought him considerable critical attention. He was quickly regarded as a major figure for his role, both through his work and his teaching at St Martin's School of Art, London, in creating a new abstract school of British sculpture. In 2004/5 the Tate celebrated Caro's work with a major retrospective. In May 2007, a group of his 1970s steel sculptures were exhibited at Roche Court together with paintings by his wife, Sheila Girling.
In 2012, Caro at Chatsworth - a major exhibition of outdoor works - was held in the spectacular setting of the gardens at Chatsworth and at Roche Court we held an exhibition of new works in cast resin called Anthony Caro: Reliefs and Standing Sculpture. In 2013, Caro exhibited at the Museo Correr during the Venice Biennale. The exhibition showcased his early pieces to his most recent work, as well as important drawings and paper sculpture.